Remembering Andrew Sachs Funniest Moments As Manuel

BBC Worldwide

Actor Andrew Sachs, most famous for playing bumbling waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers, has died.

The actor, best known for playing hapless Spanish waiter Manuel in John Cleese’s sitcom, passed away in a care home last week, his wife has revealed. He died at the age of 86, after a four year battle with dementia.

Melody Sachs, who cared for him in his final years, disclosed he had suffered vascular dementia, losing his capacity to speak and write in later life. She said: “He had the best life, and the best death you could ever have.”

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His catchphrase, ‘I know nothing’, and Basil Fawlty’s (played by John Cleese) dismissive ‘he’s from Barcelona’ have gone down in British comedy history.

And while Sachs may have been best known for the well-meaning but inept Spanish waiter, it was just one role in seven decades of acting that spanned comedy, dramatic, and classical roles.

Born in 1930 Germany, Sachs fled the Nazis with his family in 1938 and eventually settled in North London.

He met and Married Melody, who starred in one episode of Fawlty Towers herself, in 1960, before going on to have three children.

He went on to appear in The Saint, Randall, Hopkirk, and The History of Miss Polly, with a guest appearance in Casualty and Doctor Who.

He worked into his 80s, when he appeared in a live tour of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere.

His work was introduced to the new generation in October 2008 when he was thrust into the news after Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand made a prank call to the actor on the radio, with Ross shouting out that Brand ‘fucked your granddaughter’. They left three further, equally offensive messages. Unsurprisingly, the incident was branded as ‘vile’.

Since news of his death broke late last night, tributes from the film industry have been pouring in:

Melody Sachs, who cared for Andrew in his final years, disclosed he had suffered vascular dementia, losing his capacity to speak and write in later life, the Telegraph reports.

Melody, who was married to Sachs for 57 years, said:

I never once heard him grumble. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, he still worked for two years.

We were happy, we were always laughing, we never had a dull moment. He had dementia for four years and we didn’t really notice it at first until the memory started going.

She added:

It didn’t get really bad until quite near the end. I nursed Andrew, I was there for every moment of it.

Don’t feel sorry for me because I had the best life with him. I had the best husband and we really loved each other.

You’ll be missed, Andrew Sachs.

UNILAD